(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to patent application drafting and technology assessment and, more particularly, to an automated system and method for patent application drafting, issued patent assessment, and technology assessment.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Typically, patent applications and assessments of issued patents have been done manually, i.e., an inventor or patent practitioner independently outlines and drafts specification text and drawings to provide an adequate description and disclosure of an invention, including claims to subject matter that is patentably distinct from prior art references in such a manner as to meet the requirements for obtaining letters patent by the appropriate governmental authority or agency. Generally, each patent drafter constructs the text-based description and claims based upon an individual frame of reference, which is based upon experience, technical understanding of the invention, legal requirements, and personal writing style. Because these factors are substantially influenced by subjective perspective, for any given invention, variation as to patent drafting technique and substance of the text is common among inventors and patent practitioners. Thus, consistency of practice among patent drafters is not well established. Additionally, training new practitioners also lacks consistency, based upon the variation of drafting techniques that are taught by experienced practitioners. Therefore, a systematic approach to patent drafting is needed to provide a consistent and reliable means for drafting patent applications and training others to do the same among existing patent drafters, particularly among professional practitioners.
Prior art patent drafting aids may employ computers, as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 6,049,811 issued Apr. 11, 2000 to Petruzzi, et al., in order to provide a means for storing information related to an invention, including common subcomponents of a patent application, namely features and benefits of the invention that define the invention over prior art, primary elements of the invention that define the invention over prior art, secondary elements that are important but that do not necessarily define the invention over prior art, and substitute elements of the invention. These subcomponents are stored by a computer, with the descriptive text relating to each of them being provided by the patent drafter. A final patent application is compiled by combining these drafted sections with predetermined text. However, this computer-based type of prior art merely serves to prompt the user for information to be entered into a patent application and automatically draft a patent application therefrom, without providing any sort of outline or preview of the patent application substance so that editing may be done in an early stage of patent drafting, saving time and avoiding inconsistencies within the patent that is eventually drafted. Furthermore, there is little flexibility of form or format within the patent application being generated with computer assistance; the user does not have an opportunity to define relationships between and among subcomponents that may have a significant effect upon patentability as well as the user's understanding of the invention that is claimed for the purposes of enforcement or explaining it to others.
Thus, there remains a need for a systematic approach to patent drafting having a consistent and reliable means, preferably automated or assisted by automation, for drafting patent applications and training others to do the same among existing patent drafters, particularly among professional practitioners, in order to ensure patent quality and to provide a common language or means for communicating the substance and form of a patent application and/or issued patent and/or technology that is being assessed.
Also, there remains a need for an automated version of the system and method for patent application drafting, issued patent assessment, and technology assessment that provides increased efficiency via reduced time for formatting and substantive text and diagrammatic representation construction of the same. Furthermore, there remains a need for an automated system and method for patent application drafting, issued patent assessment, and technology assessment that provides an outline or preview of the patent application substance so that editing may be done in an early stage of patent drafting, saving time and avoiding inconsistencies within the patent that is eventually drafted.
Also, there remains a need for such a system and/or method having flexibility of form or format within the patent application being generated with computer assistance such that the user(s) has an opportunity to define relationships between and among subcomponents that may have a significant effect upon patentability as well as the user's understanding of the invention that is claimed for the purposes of enforcement or explaining it to others. Additionally, there remains a need for such a system and/or method that permits a multiplicity of users to work on the same patent or technology simultaneously or in series, which is permitted only by a common understanding of the format, the substance, and the language or terminology selected by the user(s) to define the invention, patent, and/or technology such that little or no additional communication is required among co-users or collaborators in order to function efficiently and effectively together.